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I have a few questions I need help on: 1. My puppy only

I have a few questions...

I have a few questions I need help on:1. My puppy only bites me and only bites my pants along with barking at me, why is this and how can this be fixed?2. Is it normal for puppies to be biting when they want to play or don’t get their way?3. My puppy barks when being told no or when he doesn’t get what he wants, is this normal puppy behaviour?I’m just wanting to know if these behaviours he is showing is normal or if he is just being a bad dog/boy, I feel lost because I get a mixed of opinions some say he’s being bad, testing me, and showing that he is the boss, and others say that he is just having normal puppy behaviour, so I wanted your thoughts and opinions since you are a professional and have been doing this for many years.

Hello and welcome. My name is ***** ***** I have been in the dog field for 25 years. I am a Therapy Dog & AKC Evaluator/trainer/ as well as an assistance/service dog trainer, specializing in behavior. It will be my pleasure to help you today. I am working on your question now. It may take a few minutes for me to type a personal response or type questions regarding your situation. Your patience is very much appreciated.

This is very normal puppy behavior. Like children they lack impulse control at this time in their life.

They puppy may feel more attached to you than it does others and that's why you might be the target of play.

You want to start training the puppy in obedience on a daily basis and do it in short sessions,. 10 to 15 minutes and make the last training just before bedtime as for some reason they seem to retain that one more.

Invest in dog puzzles, this will also help with impulse control. You can use the puppy's daily kibble to fill these with a few treats sprinkled in. A young puppy should be eating 2 to 3 times a day so these are perfect.

When the puppy gets out of control with biting and jumping and cannot be redirected to a game of fetch that is time to remove him and put him in a gated room to calm down in and a good time to give him a stuffed frozen Kong.

Telling a puppy no rarely works, you need to get better commands under your belt and use those. Leave it is a command you want to train your puppy for when he is touching things he should not. This has to be taught daily before it is learned 100% and as he grows and more distractions come into his life with more interesting things, all your commands may go out the window. So it is important to keep training the dog daily until he gets out of adolescence stage which is not until after 1 year old.

To many people make a mistake of taking a 6 week puppy course and think the dog is trained. This is not really what a 6 week course is for. It is to show you how to teach your puppy and continue teaching through life. Your dog's atmosphere will forever be changing as long as he is exposed to the outside world.

A quick tip for the biting of pants and skin, is to spray the areas with Grannicks Bitter Apple, which you can find in pet stores.

Young pups will do do this and I would not put too much stock in it as a bad behavior. You will use your leave it command once you have taught it or as he approaches you , you will give a sit command.

Do simple play like fetch only, do not engage in rough housing or excited play.

Once you begin your training he will eventually just come to you and sit to be petted as he will learn that behavior gets him a reward and attention.

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Customer reply replied 1 month ago

How about the humping? He only humps me why is this? How do I stop it?Also last night we were sitting on the couch watching a movie and he kept coming to me and my fiancé and barking over and over, we would bring him back to his bed and he would keep coming and coming, eventually he got it but he wasn’t going to my dad only to us, he doesn’t do this during the week and he’s usually pretty good but whenever my fiancé comes he acts like this. Then my fiancé says he’s bad showing he’s alpha and trying to dominate and rule the house, said I am not doing a good job training him

This is a way for a dog to show dominance as they grow. Once you begin training with his food, he will see you as being more dominant. But he is so young and his personality will change over time as he grows. His impulse control also has to do with how he behaves right now.

IF you don't have a crate for him I would get one and teach him the command kennel. Never use it when angry and begin feeding him in there so he sees it as a good place to go. When he acts out, just say Kennel in an upbeat voice and reward him for going in there. For some dogs, the kennel has to be covered with a towel or small blanket to make it dark and calm.

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Customer reply replied 1 month ago

What I did was put him in the laundry room with a baby gateWe also have a Christmas moose decoration he keeps knocking down and chewing the pine cone, is this normal behaviour or him being bad?

that will work as well. Keep it dark in there and if you have a Kong, stuff it with cream cheese or the cheese kong sells, freeze it and give it to him so it takes away the boredom. It will also help with teething pain.

Yes knocking things over is very normal. Remember I said training has to be kept up with because his world will be changing, so when was the last time you decorated for Christmas? Before he ever got there so to him this is all new toys to play with.

Please stop listening to your boyfriend's critiques, as long as you are consistent in what you do with training you will do fine

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Customer reply replied 1 month ago

Ok thank you so much! How long every day should I focus on obedience training? Come, sit, lay down?He has sit perfectly I think he’s ready for the next

try teaching one to two things a week and work on them daily a few times a day in short sessions as I mentioned above. Their attention span is not that great so they will get bored easily and that's when they act out.

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Customer reply replied 1 month ago

Ok perfect thank you, ***** ***** comes when I call him but when my dad does he doesn’t go how do I train him to go to anyone when called come

he's too young to know that at 100% yet. Recall is the hardest and takes the longest to train reliably. Again train daily

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